Special Issue

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Prince William County

Dear Neighbors,

The idea of developing the Pageland Corridor with technology-focused data center companies was first presented almost two years ago in December 2020. At that time, the County was reviewing an expansion of its current Data Center Overlay District, primarily along transmission corridors. Prior to this, in 2019 before I took office, the Gainesville Crossing data center had been approved next to the Manassas National Battlefield and across the street from Conway Robinson State Forest. The Gainesville Crossing data center development was a replacement for the already approved mixed-use development of 1,150 housing units and 800,000 square feet of retail slated to go in that space. The Digital Gateway Comprehensive Plan Amendment (or CPA) discussion began in the spring of 2021. 

Unlike our surrounding jurisdictions, Prince William County is heavily reliant on its residential tax base for operating revenue from property taxes. Over 80% of our real estate tax base comes from residential homes. We do not have the commercial tax base that Fairfax County enjoys with areas such as Tysons, the Route 28 corridor, Reston Town Center, and corporate headquarters abounding. We certainly do not have the $575 million in revenue that Loudoun County currently experiences directly from the data centers located there. This makes up almost 31% of its overall operating budget which allows them a residential tax rate vastly below ours.

When presented with the proposal of billions of dollars of investment in Prince William County, to increase our very slim commercial tax base, I said publicly at the time that to not consider the investment so many other jurisdictions would welcome, would be irresponsible governing. I stand by that remark today. This project has always been about moving Prince William County forward as a County, not backward. It has always been about bringing in substantial revenue to support lower residential tax bills, money for schools, money for programs such as affordable housing and sustainability, high wage construction jobs and permanent technology jobs, and finally, becoming part of the northern Virginia technology corridor opportunities and securing our economic future. 

Here we are two years later, following a long and thorough process. We have heard from the public and have had staff address concerns. I’ve covered many of those below, as well as some additional aspects of the amendment you may not know. The Digital Gateway Comprehensive Plan Amendment, as proposed, is a land-use policy document, though much more specific than a normal policy document because of all the issues raised. It was recommended for approval by County staff as well as the Planning Commission. If the CPA is approved, it will be the basis for any detailed rezonings that are filed for this area.  These rezonings will address the already covered issues with much more specificity and mitigation.

While the Motion Going Before the Board section below highlights some key points in the final document that staff is bringing forward to the Board, I encourage you to review the complete agenda packet yourself. I welcome you to forward this email to anyone you think would be interested in its content. I believe an informed community is a community that can come together to achieve our goals. 

In Service,

Chair Ann Wheeler

The PW Digital Gateway is a proposed amendment to the County's Comprehensive Plan. The PWC Planning Office is currently in the process of updating the Comprehensive Plan in a process called Pathway to 2040: Comprehensive Plan Update. The Proposed Digital Gateway site in the map below (page 13) is 2,133 acres between Route 234 and Route 29. It comprises 1% of PWC's 222,720 acres.

The Digital Gateway site area, shown in the map below (page 13), would consist of 1,321 acres for technology/flex. Additionally, it would have

• 807 acres for parks and open space.
• 440 acres for environmental resource protection overlay.
• 9.6 acres for county historic registered site.

For more information on these, see the Green Infrastructure and Mobility section below. 

In 2021 the Executive Director of the Department of Economic Development provided a Data Center - Market Viability Review. It advised that within the Data Center Overlay (map source) approximately 600 to 1,110 acres were considered market viable and only two sites would meet the recent standard 100-acre scenario of a data center requirement (page 2). 

Since then, more land has come off the market. Economic Development estimates that now only 90 to 830 acres remain available (page 7, #23).

The Digital Gateway Comprehensive Plan Amendment is not a rezoning, but rather it is change in the proposed use for the corridor. County staff has worked extensively for over a year and a half on this proposed project. 

September 14, 2022 County staff's Draft Plan, dated August 15, 2022 was put before the Planning Commission. The commission passed a resolution recommending adoption of the PW Digital Gateway Amendment.

The agenda packet for the Tuesday, November 1, Board meeting contains the staff report (page 62) with recommendations from the Planning Commission and the Planning Office (pages 69 - 71 of agenda packet). The recommendations include:

• Noise is adequately reduced and/or mitigated.
• Proper measures are taken to address any potential negative environmental issues.
• Strongly encourage use of closed loop water, or no-water cooling systems, and other water efficient systems to minimize impacts to the County’s water resources. 
• Work with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to expand their water quality monitoring program to include sites along the Little Bull Run and Lick Branch within the study area to monitor for any changes to the water quality and health of these streams.
• Any human remains associated with military activity should be recovered for proper reinterment.

All of the above recommendations are included in the Motion going before the Board on Tuesday, November 1.

The PW Digital Gateway Special Study Area provides an opportunity to ensure a robust and connected system of greenways, trails, open space, and parks which provide a benefit to the environment, County residents, and local wildlife. The community park, cultural parks, paths, trails, and wildlife corridors are all part of the current Draft Plan, dated August 15, 2022. 

Analysis of the Digital Gateway shows that it can provide a great economic benefit to PWC. County staff analyzed the specific impact of the Digital Gateway on tax revenue. The firm BAE Urban Economics did a market study and analyzed the economic impacts of data centers.

• County staff's analysis (pages 16-17) concluded that at full build-out the Digital Gateway will offer an estimated annual positive tax revenue of approximately $400 million including real estate and business tangible property taxes.  
• BAE’s study (page 28) estimated a typical data center building provides 28 jobs, and an additional 133 indirect jobs.

There have been misunderstandings and misinformation about the CPA applicant and what properties were included in this plan. 



• In any CPA, the applicant is always Prince William County.
• An official statement dated October 11, 2022 was provided to the BOCS about the CPA applicant and properties and how the process has worked over the last year and a half.

Recently, misinformation has been circulated that the Pageland Lane improvements in the Digital Gateway CPA are resurrecting the Bi-County Parkway concept. This is false. 



• Whether or not the Digital Gateway CPA is approved, there will be development along Pageland Lane that will require a four-lane road. 
• Housing or other development options would likely require a higher number of daily trips on Pageland Lane.
• Unlike some development concepts, the Digital Gateway CPA option does not require a connection to the Prince William Parkway (Rt. 234 bypass) or I-66. 
• Finally, any improvement to Pageland Lane does not provide for a direct corridor to Dulles as there is no corridor to connect to in Loudoun County that provides for this.  

The Planning Office compiled a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions and answers about the amendment. Please note, this was last updated March 28, 2022, which was before the August 15, 2022 final staff report recommendation for approval. 

The Planning Office addressed questions from the Planning Commission about the amendment in an August 19, 2022 memo.

Acting Planning Director, Rebecca Horner, addressed questions about the amendment in an October 11, 2022 memo.

The Planning Office also compiled a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions and answers about the Data Center Overlay.